On Monday evening – along with my family – I watched an elegant, white woman get on stage at the Republican National Convention. She was dressed in white and about to experience one of the biggest moments of her career. The crowd cheered her name as Queen’s We Are The Champions played in the background.
Melania Trump, a Slovenian-born watch and jewelry designer and former model, whose father was a member of the communist party, stood in front of thousands as she proclaimed her love for her family and the nation that adopted her. One man yelled from the back, “We love you!” and others cheered and nodded as Ms Trump lovingly described her husband and his undoubted patriotism.
Aside from softening Trump’s character, what she wanted to get across was that her immigrant story was the quintessential American Dream. “I was born in Slovenia, a small, beautiful and then-communist country in central Europe,” she said as she went on explaining the values instilled on her by her family. She went on, “on July 28th, 2006, I was very proud to become a citizen of the United States”.
Almost immediately after that line the crowd roared and cheered, like proud parents celebrating their daughter’s college graduation. The roar was palpable as people stood up from their seats. Not even halfway done and Melania Trump was receiving a standing ovation.
The words of support and loyalty for the red, white and blue were romantically expressed, and idealistic. But they resonated with the audience because her speech was an immigrant’s love letter to America. “[Becoming a citizen] is the greatest privilege on planet Earth. I cannot, or will not, take the freedoms this country offers for granted.”
So here I was, sitting in my living room, asking my family a question: what if this speech, this declaration of loyalty to America, was given by an undocumented Mexican American valedictorian, a construction worker or a 22-year-old US-Dominican security guard who works at a Trump golf course?
All these people are also searching the American Dream aren’t they? They are, like Melania Trump, sons and daughters of foreigners searching for a better life. My own father, a Peruvian who, just like Melania, had a distinctive accent, shared her experiences as a newcomer to this land. Yet my bet is that he, and all of the other immigrants I listed, would not receive a standing ovation for their stories.
The hypocrisy angers me because here is a party which unashamedly condemns outsiders, whose leader will call Mexicans “rapists” and “killers” and demands that we either adjust or face exile.
Here is a convention where, only hours after Ms Trump’s speech was delivered, a 79-year-old retired football coach and analyst refused to accept the idea of multiculturalism in this country. He said that if you come to America you better “become us” and that he, like many others, refuses to speak our language or celebrate our holidays.
That speech was also met with cheers and applause.
Lou Holtz on immigrants: "I don't want to celebrate your holidays, I sure as hell don't want to cheer for your soccer team"
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) July 19, 2016
I don’t criticize Melania Trump for her speech, in fact, I celebrate it. I enjoyed hearing her immigration story. But what makes my blood boil is the very notion that her message was only celebrated by the convention because she was Trump’s wife.
We Latinos contribute so much to this nation and we have been doing it for a long time. We belong within the makeup of this country and we will be a crucial factor in November. Our love for America should not be judged based upon the color of our skin or the fact that we also speak another language. It’s no secret that we often feel like an invisible community, unrepresented, unwanted, unfairly judged. But we have a lot to say and a lot the Republican community should know. We may not have Melania’s last name but, like it or not, we come with the same message.
